The Up Series (2007)

Child Is Father to the Man

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy The Up Series on DVD

It's true that each new film in Michael Apted's revolutionary Up series includes footage from the previous entries, but to make room for the new footage, some of it is understandably excised. So it makes good sense to view the entire series from its beginning, starting with the 1964 television broadcast of Seven Up and moving all the way up to last year's 49 Up. (For reality TV nuts, this should be an easy -- and infinitely more rewarding -- task.) First Run Features has released all seven films in an extraordinary six-disc box set; the first two films run a total of 92 minutes and share a single disc. Apted provides a commentary track for 42 Up (1998), and there's also a half-hour interview with Roger Ebert and the director (on disc 6), an Apted biography, photo galleries and trailers for other films. For more in-depth discussion of the films and their achievements, please see my longer reviews of 42 Up and 49 Up.

Starring: Bruce Balden, Jacqueline Bassett, Symon Basterfield, Andrew Brackfield, John Brisby, Suzanne Dewey, Nicholas Hitchon, Neil Hughes, Lynn Johnson, Paul Kligerman, Susan Sullivan, Tony Walker
Written by: n/a
Directed by: Michael Apted
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 710 minutes
Date: September 17, 2007